Congress
How Hakeem Jeffries is handling the most divisive issue in Democratic politics
House Democrats are fiercely divided over a proposed cut to Israel aid. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hasn’t so far tried to unite them.
Lawmakers were set to weigh in on the matter last week before an unrelated Republican meltdown sent them home early for the Independence Day recess — but not before it forced a reckoning inside the Democratic ranks on an issue that has dominated party primaries this year.
Hard-left candidates Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander in New York as well as Melat Kiros in Colorado ousted incumbents after hitting them — and leaders — for taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Now, thanks to an appropriations amendment proposed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that would cut off aid to Israel, the internal fight among Democrats is live on Capitol Hill — and Jeffries is in the middle of it.
As Democrats wrestled with how to approach the politically thorny vote, Jeffries offered little guidance, preferring to let his members hash out their differences in two lengthy private caucus meetings.
“Politics, at least in the Democratic primary, has evolved to the point where folks who don’t know this issue very well are looking for guidance,” Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio, a pro-Israel Democrat, said in an interview last week.
Jeffries, who represents a significant orthodox Jewish community in his Brooklyn congressional district, historically has been a strong supporter of Israel. When he first ran for the House in 2012, Sen. Chuck Schumer called him a “true blue friend of Israel” in the course of endorsing him in an open-seat primary.
But the politics surrounding Israel have been transformed in the decade-and-a-half since — and especially since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched his invasion of Gaza in the wake of the October 2023 Hamas terror attacks.
Now U.S. support for Israel has emerged as a major internal Democratic fault line and portends to be a massive headache for Jeffries next year as Israel skeptic after Israel skeptic wins the party’s primaries.
He has given some signals in recent months about how he plans to handle the shift in sentiment — in short, very carefully.
Jeffries declined to state his position on the Massie amendment last week, saying in response to a question from Blue Light News, “There’s a lot that needs to happen differently to get to a place where there’s a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and we all need to focus on actually achieving a two-state solution once and for all.”
He has told members he plans to give more specific guidance once a vote is confirmed. In one of the caucus meetings, Jeffries read a statement opposing the amendment from the left-leaning pro-Israel group J Street, according to a person in the room granted anonymity to discuss the private remarks.
Members across the ideological spectrum said last week they appreciated having forums to deliberate, and many suggested it could offer a model for how the potential speaker could manage his caucus in a majority. But some Democrats warned an agree-to-disagree posture might not always fly on sensitive issues.
Massie’s Israel amendment is unlikely to be adopted — very few of his fellow Republicans are expected to support it — but it has fractured House Democrats along loosely ideological lines all the same.
Progressives generally support the amendment, which would also cut $3.3 billion in foreign military aid in addition to blocking funding for Israel. Meanwhile, many leadership-aligned members and moderates have said the amendment is poorly written and believe it could also restrict humanitarian support for Palestinians.
The friction led leaders to convene a pair of hour-plus caucus meetings that several House Democrats repeatedly described as “intense.” The meetings, four of those present said, were not intended to galvanize the caucus behind a leadership-driven position, but rather present an opportunity for members to air their perspectives.
The meetings were scheduled after concerns emerged about Massie’s amendment during a weekly leadership meeting last month. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who was present, said members demanded time to openly discuss the issue, and Jeffries complied.
Balint said the message sent to leaders was, “We need to talk about it sooner rather than later.”
“This is really a very robust conversation that we need to have, whether it comes up this week or in the future,” she said. “How do we continue to address this issue when we know it’s going to be the issue that the Republicans are going to use to try to drive a wedge between us?”
One progressive House Democrat who has been critical of party leaders, Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, said the meetings were the first caucuswide opportunity to discuss Israel during her two terms in Congress.
“I don’t think it’s been an easy process for him as a leader,” Ramirez said about Jeffries. “But I do appreciate that he’s open for us to have a real dialogue, and that he hasn’t in any way suppressed the voices of the people there. He’s been really intentional about listening.”
As minority leader, Jeffries has rallied his caucus around several discharge petitions — including one to extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits — and a war powers resolution to restrain the Trump administration on Iran. Those efforts have tended to divide Republicans and force uncomfortable conversations within the GOP conference.
If elected speaker, Jeffries would control the floor agenda and could stave off some of the most politically divisive votes. But even in the minority, Republicans would have the same tools at their disposal as Jeffries, which they could use to force Democrats to confront their own internal disagreements — including on Israel.
Jeffries has kept his powder dry on other contentious topics this term. As the House considered extending key surveillance powers in April, he stayed in the background, instead leaving it to Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Intelligence Committee Democrat, and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Judiciary Committee Democrat, to make their respective cases for and against.
When a 45-day extension of the spy power came to the floor, Democrats split 94-85.
But Jeffries later showed on that issue that he can galvanize his caucus when consensus emerges. After Trump appointed MAGA ally Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, Jeffries rallied nearly all of his caucus to oppose an extension until Pulte is no longer serving.
“There are issues where he knows that we’ve got to stick together,” said a House Democrat who was granted anonymity to discuss internal caucus dynamics. “There are issues that he knows that people have different ways of thinking, like on [Israel]. And I think that’s good that he allows us to do that, because if he would whip one way or the other, there’s some people that feel very strongly.”
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said Jeffries’ predecessor as top Democrat, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, also had to pick her political battles — despite her reputation as a hard-nosed leader who made firm decisions and brooked little dissent afterward. But he said he was not surprised to see a softer touch in Jeffries.
“I don’t think Hakeem is the kind of guy to bash heads,” Beyer said in an interview. “He will try to do it by persuasion, by showing the common good, by saying, ‘This is good for America.’”
Senate Republicans are discussing whether to call up a data center utility costs bill as they make plans to stay in Washington next week rather than beat an early exit before the midterms.
Two GOP aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Senate will remain in town amid pressure from some corners of the party to send members home early to campaign.
Asked if the Senate will stay next week, Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “looking that way.”
While some lawmakers had hoped to move a long-brewing bipartisan energy permitting deal, those hopes have evaporated, and GOP leaders are instead eyeing votes on the Ratepayer Protection Act — a top priority of endangered Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Thune said Thursday moving to the data-center-focused bill next week “is an option.” The Senate is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution condemning the Iran war and several presidential nominations.
The Ratepayer Protection Act easily passed the House earlier this month, but some Senate Democrats are arguing it does not go far enough and party leaders could be motivated to deny Husted a pre-election win.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
A bipartisan group of senators failed to close a long-sought deal on legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects, kicking consideration of the issue until after the midterm elections.
A senior Democrat aide familiar with the negotiations and granted anonymity to discuss the matter told Blue Light News on Thursday that Senate Democrats don’t think there’s enough time to get it done.
“The goal here has always been to pass permitting reform, not just to introduce it,” the aide said.
Top negotiators — Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee and ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — were unable to reach agreement on a package this week, despite recent overtures made by both sides.
The lack of a deal now means a permitting bill likely won’t get a vote until after the elections, when lawmakers are expected to face a packed legislative agenda and the power dynamics in Congress will begin to shift.
Republicans and the Trump administration were eager to lock in a vote soon, arguing legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects would represent a major bipartisan breakthrough to address voters’ affordability concerns.
President Donald Trump even signaled he would ease his administration’s blockade on wind projects to entice Democrats to agree on a permitting deal.
But Democrats wanted more time for their members to review any bill and are seeking stronger assurances that the Trump administration would lay off its attacks on clean energy projects. They also did not face the same political incentives to act now, with Trump and Republicans struggling in the polls.
“I appreciate very much what the Trump administration has done to move in this direction, but in order to brief colleagues on what this really means, we need just a bit more clarity on exactly what return to regular order for wind and solar projects looks like. So that’s still to be done, but that I think can happen in fairly short order,” Whitehouse told reporters Thursday.
For all the common ground in both parties around encouraging more energy production and accelerating projects to help address affordability concerns and meet rising power demand, permitting also touches on thorny issues for congressional Republicans, Democrats and this White House.
Democrats are pressing for significant measures to boost interstate transmission lines to deliver clean power to major demand centers and restrain the administration’s power to cancel projects or stall on approvals.
Republicans, for their part, want to limit states’ authority to reject projects under a provision of the Clean Water Act that Democratic governors have used to block interstate pipelines.
Other elements of a deal would likely include easing approvals and limiting legal challenges against projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock procedural environmental law that is increasingly blamed for stalling projects of all types, as well as under the National Historic Preservation Act, a landmark law designed to protect Native American cultural treasures.
Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.
An ugly fight is brewing among Democrats about an unlikely issue: college sports regulation.
Senate passage of a White House-endorsed bill to overhaul college athletic rules could happen as soon as Thursday. But despite the bill’s bipartisan backing, Black Democratic lawmakers are warning their own party that supporting the measure risks exploiting Black athletes.
The debate spotlights a painful party divide that could also alienate a key demographic in Democrats’ voter base just weeks before the midterms.
“It is stunning to me,” Sen. Cory Booker told Blue Light News Wednesday, pointing out about half of Senate Democrats have voted to advance the measure thus far.
“I am disappointed in a way I’ve never felt before in the United States Senate with my own caucus,” he said, referring to Democrats. “My caucus, some members of my caucus, are about to take away the rights for athletes to sue.”
Booker is backed by the Congressional Black Caucus, which for months has also pleaded with senators not to pass the Protect College Sports Act they argue strips the rights of student athletes while protecting the NCAA and its coaches. The group helped sink a similar measure in the House earlier this year. CBC member and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated the group’s opposition to the legislation Wednesday.
“This is insane to me, especially because the revenue sports are disproportionately African American,” he said. “When has the Democratic Party stood up for taking away rights from disadvantaged minorities? When have we ever done what we’re about to do right now? It is wrong. It is unjust, and it will disproportionately affect African Americans.”
While a host of student and college groups, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund, support the bill, both the AFL-CIO and the NAACP say they oppose it for denying student athletes labor protections and unduly benefiting athletic conferences.
Another vocal opponent of the measure, Sen. Chris Murphy, called the divide “a unique moment for Democrats.”
Top Commerce Democrat and bill sponsor Maria Cantwell has said the legislation attempts to restore order to college sports, where major football programs can consume resources that would have otherwise gone to women’s and Olympic sports.
Cantwell, in an interview, countered Booker’s concerns by saying the “historic bill…recognizes for the first time in federal law that student athletes get a percentage of the revenue, ticket sales, media rights, media sales, and sponsorship. Historic.”
A Democratic aide, who is supportive of the bill and was granted anonymity to speak candidly, referenced the number of student athletes who stand to benefit from the measure, “There’s nothing progressive about blocking new protections for 550,000 people just so you can strengthen the hand of the highest-earning 1% of them.”
Booker said without major changes, he would continue the fight if the Senate’s bill makes it to the House.
What else we’re watching:
— THUNE PUTS ODDS ON STAYING IN SESSION: Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday night it’s more likely than not that senators remain in session next week, but the plan is “still to be determined.” “Just don’t make any plans yet. I would say right now still odds are we plan on being here next week, and I’d say that still looks like the case, but if that changes I’ll let you know,” Thune said. Senate Republicans are discussing whether to vote on a data center bill next week being championed by one of their most vulnerable incumbents, Sen. Jon Husted, according to two GOP senators granted anonymity to disclose private talks. They’re also waiting to see if a long-sought deal to overhaul the energy permitting process comes together, which Thune has indicated would trigger members staying in town next week.
— INSIDE THE FIERCE HOUSE GOP WAIVER FIGHT: A behind-the-scenes battle is playing out over several powerful House Republicans who don’t want to be forced out of their posts. House Republicans’ decades old three-term limit for panel leaders has grown less strict in recent years. Some want a crackdown, saying the turnover is needed to promote fresh ideas and leadership in the ranks. Three of the 20 sitting House chairs have signaled interest in applying for a waiver. If each follows through, it would be the first time so many exceptions have been sought at once.
Jordain Carney and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
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